Big Hills? No Problem! Weed Spraying by Drone

This was the toughest hillside we’de sprayed yet, and our big XAG P100 Pro drone handled it beautifully. Located in the beautiful Mcedon Ranges near Melbourne, Victoria, the paddock was incredibly steep, completely inaccessible by tractor or even walking, and had a lovely combination of serrated tussock supplemented with a good dose of artichoke thistle and gorse. Many of the hill faces were 60 to 70 degrees steep, but this presented no challenge to our favourite drone, “Big Bertie”.

Working in semi-autonomous mode, perfectly straight lines were sprayed across the face of the hill, giving a beautiful even coverage of herbicide. Afterwards, thicker patches of artichoke thistle and gorse were sprayed manually, guaranteeing a confirmed kill on these large, mature weeds.

Despite the tough nature of the task, with the steep face of the hill having numerous ridges, valleys and trees to navigate, the 10 acre task was completed at an average of two and a half acres per hour. Imagine trying to do that by hand!

Best of all, our operators were upwind and far away from the task while spraying, guaranteeing the safety of all employees and owners. Thanks Big Bertie!